Hey everyone, I know it's been a long time but I had been struggling with the endgame for this war. I think I finally got it.

Sorry for the short chapter, but I have to get this one over so that I can start with what's coming next.

Enjoy

Generation Lost

Chapter 19: Woth Dying For

"Now when the white flames are burning flags

We found a world worth dying for yeah

We've been battered so hard that

We don't feel anymore"

The whistling sound of an abnormally sharp kunai rang past his ear, followed by a searing pain. Wet blood started coating the back of his neck. Ino's voice was screaming at him to see if he was okay.

"Fuck." Shikamaru cursed as he placed his palm over his now much shorter ear and took a step to the side. 'At least it wasn't the one with the earpiece on it.' "I'm fine. He caught me off guard."

"It's not like you to be this sloppy, Shikamaru." Asuma's paternal voice sparked conflicting feelings all over him. But he needed to maintain his cool. Now more than ever. The team that Asuma entrusted him was dangerously close to collapsing on its own.

"As you can see, sensei, we are a little shaken right now." The long-haired shinobi replied, mind racing trying to figure out how he could trap him in his shadow. "And with reasonable cause."

Ino was barely hanging on her senses. Big fat tears welled up on her eyes as she glanced at Asuma's movements anxiously. At least she was alert. But Chouji was a whole different story.

As soon as Asuma had appeared he had fallen to his knees and was now weeping in fetal position slightly behind them.

"Chouji, please! I know it's incredibly hard but we need you right now!" Shikamaru called once more. It was hard enough to fight their former sensei without having to protect the strongest member of their team.

"Shika, Naruto needs help with a reanimation at the end of the formation."

"Naruto too?" Shikamaru wouldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams that Kabuto had it in him to do these kinds of atrocities with the bodies he had stolen from the Village. What he was doing right now could jeopardize their whole campaign against Sound. What a twisted, yet brilliant mind he had.

The Nara pressed the communicator against his ear. "I'm busy with Asuma right now. He'll have to hang in there until I can make it."

A prolonged silence greeted the other end of the mic.

Ino's father finally replied:

"Roger."

Hinata was watching, horrified, at how Naruto had been pierced by those menacing tentacles the new reanimated woman was waving around.

It took her a while to understand why the Uzumaki had suddenly stood still at the newcomer. Even from where she was, she could see how his eyes were as big as plates while he looked at the woman from his sitting position.

All the fear and dread that had taken her hostage since her mom arrived, was immediately pushed to the back of her mind and replaced with the pressing feeling of saving Naruto. Her feet moved automatically, forgetting she was stepping closer to where her mom's reanimated corpse was. She couldn't let the red-haired woman keep hurting Naruto when it was clear he was too shocked to dodge.

The young Hyuuga jumped forward with all the strength her legs could muster, and managed to land with an unstable Divine Defense that was enough to dissipate the red-haired woman's attack.

She expected her boyfriend to be already on his feet, but she had to tilt her head downwards to look at the frozen form of the chuunin. She pressed him to stand up, not being able to hide the tone of alarm in her voice. She knew full well that her mother was watching her closely.

"Oh Hina-chan. You look so lovely." Her mother praised from her right. Hinata tried her best to control her shaking. Naruto's well-being was the only thing holding her sanity together.

"Mom…" She almost missed the Uzumaki's feeble whisper. The word was so simple yet so full of emotion. Hinata now understood that this was the most dangerous situation Sasuke could've put them in. Fighting Sasuke face to face sounded more doable than facing their own dead mothers.

'Kabuto really must hate us.' She concluded once she took in Kushina's features. She was beautiful indeed, even with the dark eyes and rotting vest.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata started, trying to think of something to say to him to break him out of his shaken state. "We can't let Kabuto win."

The blond managed to turn his haunted eyes to his girlfriend, and he knew she was right. His mother agreed.

"Be strong, son. Hurting you brings us no pleasure. But we can't help it." The heartfelt tone of her own mother's voice did little to calm his anxiousness.

She waved her deadly hair strands again, and Hana sprung to action with flying juukens pulsing out of her palms. The strands were going to hit first, so Hinata did another chakra defense technique. It was effective with the strands, but her mother's juuken hits slowed her down every time they pounded on her defense. Finally they sent her stumbling backwards, then she fell to the ground.

They were relentless. Uzumaki Kushina retrieved Hinata's kunai pack with her extended extremities, tore through the pouch, and imbued chakra all over the knifes blades.

Hinata stumbled trying to get out of the way, but then remembered Naruto was still frozen on the ground and she could only think of covering him with her own self in an attempt to at least save one of them.

A blur of gold engulfed her and yanked her roughly out of the way. His posture wasn't very stable and they stumbled down the gentle slope they were fighting at. After rolling twice, he summoned two of his clones to entertain their mothers while he helped Hinata up and grabbed her by the shoulders yet again.

His eyes were wild with despair, but his voice was low and steady.

"Wouldn't you have done anything if it meant you could speak to your mom again?" His words were directed at Hinata, but he was also trying to convince himself. The young Hyuuga looked at him, then at her mom striking at least 6 juukens on Naruto's poor clone, then back to her boyfriend.

"We never asked for this." Her hands were starting to shake again, the strength she had found within herself to save him was evaporating.

She noticed his adam's apple quiver up and down while he composed himself. "Neither did they. We have to save them, Hinata."

"It's not fair." She croaked, trying to gather strength from him by wrapping her hands on his forearms and clinging for comfort. "I hate Kabuto." Naruto felt how his clones were close to disappearing. He took her in her arms tightly.

"Let's put them to rest and try to get information on Kabuto's location out of them." The blond was feeling how his chakra spiked at the name of Kabuto, but he couldn't let himself go out of control now. "We can do it." Hinata looked up at him, trying to let herself be convinced by his words. But he looked as lost as she felt.

It didn't matter. They had a job to do. Naruto turned to the fighting scene and saw how both of his clones were struggling to keep existing while being swung back and forth by a red hair strand going through their bodies. He put them out of their misery. After rubbing his tears away with the back of his hand, he started running towards his mother. Hinata followed after him.

Urgent reports were coming in and out of the main tent left and right. Kakashi had barely had time to read the last incoming report of Inuzuka Tsume claiming that her dead husband was leading the charge against her camp with about a hundred Otto soldiers, when another staff member came rushing into the tent claiming there had been another Hyuuga reanimated corpse harassing Hiashi's battle station.

His hand clenched into a fist and slammed it against the table. He didn't think Kabuto would unleash de Nidaime's long lost forbidden jutsu so soon into the war.

'Sasuke knows he is outnumbered and lost key battleground position. He can't wait too long or his troops will spread too thin.' Good thing that Shikaku had insisted on bringing sealing supplies in case that this scenario played out with the stolen dead.

But sealing them would not come without a cost. Most of the corpses were elite fighters. And their invulnerability would mean sure collateral damage.

He signaled one of his technical assistance team to put Shikaku on the line. A few moments later his voice was heard through the intercom. The sound of office chaos was also adorning his background.

'I already commanded the Naras to instruct the ten top ninjutsu users in every squad on the sealing techniques.'

"How many have we sealed until now?"

'Four.' Answered the Nara head back, graveness in his tone.

Kakashi's frown deepened. "Get at least one of your people to an active reanimation location. Escort them heavily. Right now Naras are the most valuable resource we have."

'Sure thing. But we have to do something about the source. My boy has already gotten his hands on Kabuto's location.'

"So has Naruto. I am assembling a team."

'Better be a good one.'

It almost didn't feel like a fight.

It felt like sparring.

Her lunges were swift but nothing Hinata couldn't see coming. Unfortunately, the same could be said the other way around.

The strikes and counterstrikes flowed neatly one after the other. Hinata's mind slowly automated her attacks and responses, and focused mainly on her mother's words that she effortless muttered in between every strike.

"Your father never really understood the strength behind compassion." Hyuuga Hana said soberly after hearing from her daughter's mouth what had happened in her upbringing. "But I am glad he sees your strength now. It takes a strong will to revert the negative feelings you had of yourself."

It felt so surreal, hearing her voice so close to her. Every mention of her name felt like a bittersweet stab to her heart. It created a forceful need to throw herself into her mother's arms and cry about how much she's missed her. About how she had forgotten her face by the time she was 9, and how she had sought to find portraits of her just to try and reconstruct how she looked.

It was too painful. So Hinata tried to speak as little as she could. But her will wasn't strong enough to conceal her lifelong fears and dreams to her mother. She had told her all about it anyway, when she visited her grave.

"I had help." She whispered, but her mother heard her.

"Nobody expected you to do it alone, my child. But I am grateful to whomever was there for you when you felt uncapable." She smiled even though her palms rained down mercilessly.

Hinata's eyes turned towards Naruto and his mother's most recent fighting spot, but she found it desolated. Surely their fight must have moved deeper into the forest. It wasn't lost on Hana's expert eyes.

"Is he anything at all like Minato-san?" Her mother asked, with a tender smile on her face. It didn't dissuade her from capturing her palms and throwing them away from her.

"I don't know how he was like… and Naruto-kun never got a chance to meet them." She was opening up little by little.

"He was everything you could ever want in a Hokage. Clever and level-headed."

This earned a sly smile from Hinata.

"He is mostly impulsive and honest to a fault." The young woman said almost automatically. "But that doesn't stop him from doing what he believes is right."

"Hmm, then he takes after Kushina-san… Although your father always said that the Uzumakis were so spirited because they drained the energy of whomever was close to them." This not only earned a chuckle from Hana, but also from Hinata. Her mother's face suddenly turned serious.

"I don't think I'm mistaken when I say that he inherited Kushina's jinchuuriki." This caught Hinata's attention. 'Inherited?' "If you are going to stay with him you need to be sure he can control it. Heed my warning, Hina-chan. If there even is a shadow of a doubt in your heart about him, you need to keep your distance… or risk being caught in the destruction he can bring."

They had been battling fiercely. First on top of the trees and its branches, but due to Kushina's destructive lashes, they ended fighting in the middle of a broken-down forest. Naruto hadn't been able to stablish a conversation with his dead mother given that he couldn't fight at close range without risking being stabbed by her deadly attacks.

He had never fought a more violent opponent. She launched into attack without having regard for her well-being. He guessed she didn't have to worry about that, being immune to pain. Still, he was desperate for a chance to talk to her.

"You'll never stop me by fighting from afar, son." She would chime every so often, after another attack attempt he managed to escape.

His heart stung every time she called him "son" or "dear". He had always imagined her voice to be calming. But hearing the real thing he realized it was more than that. It was lively and full of humor. It made him want to laugh, but then the feeling turned sour remembering she was but a desecrated puppet that would never live up to her time when she was alive.

He decided this had gone for too long. Summoning as much Kyuubi chakra as he could, he cloaked himself with it's dark aura and molded three chakra tails that answered to his every command.

There was an appreciative laugh coming from his mother.

"You can already handle three tails? Impressive."

He waited for her to throw some sharp strands at him. Just a second before they reached him, he used his heightened knifes to cut the strands short, as he moved closer to her.

She tried to cut him off before he approached further, but he was too fast and his movements completely calculated. Half her strands had been cut down and she felt two of the chakra tails almost choking her while they restrained her.

Finally, Naruto could stand in front of his mother.

"It still costs you." She mentioned with a small reproachful frown.

The Uzumaki arched his eyebrow. But then he noticed his labored breathing and the sweat covering his back. The tails took much energy to control.

"I'm in control. That's all that matters." He answered shortly.

His mother laughed loudly at his words. "Three tails doesn't mean you're in control. If he controls more tails than you then you'll never stop being in danger."

She noticed the confused look in his face.

"You need to control all of him. It's the only way." Her face then became serious.

"How?" He whispered.

"I beat him in a special temple in Konoha where his energy was repressed. It was destroyed the day you were born." She said sadly. "Also, it's easier if you are a woman."

Naruto cocked his head in confusion.

"The hearts of men are filled with powerful emotions. The ones Kyuubi consumes to become stronger. Meanwhile, women's hearts are more serene and less violent."

The topic was of utmost interest for the blond. But this was the chance he was waiting for. His heart was set on doing one thing and one thing alone.

Hardening his chakra control on her shackles, the blond stepped forward and engulfed his mother in a big and desperate hug.

The woman seemed surprised for a moment, but then a gentle smile graced her face.

"I missed you so much when I was growing up." He said tensely, trying to control the tight knot on his throat.

"I'm sorry." Her tone changed instantly to deep regret. "We did what we could to keep you safe. And it took everything from us."

Naruto already had tears running down his face. Suddenly her arms were hugging him, and immediately after, two strands of hair pierced him in the stomach and shoulder blade unmercifully.

She spoke again with that cheery tone of hers, seemingly unaware that she was stabbing her own son.

"I wish we could've been a family, Naruto-kun. We would've been very happy." A small tear ran down her face.

Naruto was shaking. Not only because of the pain, but also because of the force that he needed to stop her hair strands from getting further into his wounds. He hesitated for one second, before yelling.

"Now Shikamaru!"

Without a warning, a Nara appeared from the furthermost bushes and sprinted directly at Naruto and his mother. Next thing she knew, there was a piece of paper stuck to the front of her forehead that immediately made her arms go numb. Her grip on Naruto loosened, and her hair fell to her sides lifelessly.

With a strained voice, Naruto looked at her one last time.

"I'm gonna miss you mom." He said, almost sobbing in her ear.

Even as her body was disintegrating, she never stopped smiling reassuringly at him. "I love you, Naruto."

Suddenly, his arms were not holding her anymore. Only dusts of paper and ash remained. The Uzumaki looked at his empty hands for a moment, registering the sudden silence that engulfed the forest. Her absolute absence dawning on him.

Then he snapped.

A piercing scream rung through the clearing, followed by a powerful blast of energy.

Shikamaru was blown from his feet and fell against a fallen oak tree torn in half. He watched a hunched Naruto scream endlessly as red energy started pulsating through his eyes and hair.

'His eyes were red.' Shikamaru then remembered what Temari had once said to him about Naruto fighting against Akatsuki, but he hadn't believed her. Even when he confirmed Naruto was a Jinchuuriki he couldn't envision him with red eyes.

Not only were his eyes deep red but his hair was standing on end and his whiskers were darkening. The energy he was expulsing was becoming so thick that the Nara had a hard time even swallowing.

'Oh no.' He started panicking. Naruto was out of control.

He was still screaming, looking at his hands. Suddenly his eyes moved and found him. And for a moment he thought he was a goner. Those eyes sought for blood and Shikamaru had lost control of his body. He could only keep still, waiting for Naruto to act.

"I'm killing Kabuto tonight." Shikamaru heard Naruto say, but it was hardly his voice.

Surprised that he could still talk in that state, the long-haired chuunin advised against it. "There's a team already going after him. Your squad needs you here."

Ignoring his words, Naruto stood up and started walking towards Kabuto's coordinates. That was until a Hyuuga latched herself behind his back.

"Don't!" Her voice was hoarse from crying so much. "Naruto-kun, please."

The enraged Jinchuuriki stood still. He wanted to go look for Kabuto so bad. But Hinata was holding him for dear life. He could feel her sobs reverberate through his chest.

"Please." She wept helplessly, her grip on him diminishing. "Stay with me."

Her sobs were enough to break Naruto's heart. He wasn't the only one hurting. Every ragged breath from the girl served to convince him to take the fox's energy back to his cell.

Shikamaru watched, entranced, as Naruto turned to embrace Hinata just before she fell unconscious.

"If Kabuto isn't dead by tomorrow, I'll go looking for him on my own." Naruto promised without taking his eyes off Hinata.

Shikamaru found the strength to get back on his feet. Although a little wary of the approaching blond.

"I want to kill him with my own hands too." The dark-haired man said, recovering his ability to talk. Naruto snapped his head towards him. "He reanimated Asuma and sent him to our location."

The realization that Kabuto had done the same unforgivable thing to other people made his eyes turn red again. "How many reanimations did he make?"

"Fifteen from what I know." Answered Shikamaru somberly. "And we all want revenge for what he just did. But there're orders to follow, Naruto. You can't do whatever you please."

The blond looked through Shikamaru, and before going back to camp with Hinata on his arms, he said.

"Thanks for helping us."

His first impulse was to take her to the closest infirmary tent he could find so they could check up on her. But after analyzing her closely, she didn't have noticeable wounds on her body. The damage had been mostly psychological. Deciding that since his clones were already pushing back the last wave of ambushers from the East with the rest of his Company, he decided to go directly to Ebisu's private tent to use it temporarily while Hinata came back to her senses. He was sure they had a few hours before he came back with the rest of the Company.

For now, the tent served to put Hinata to sleep in an army cot that was way more comfortable than any of the sleeping bags any of them had. It also had enough space for Naruto to wash his wounds and dress them up.

In the middle of the silence, he felt despair getting control of him again. His heart started beating faster and the feeling of doom was getting hold of him.

He wanted to cry and scream. To run as far away as he could and break Kabuto's neck for what he had done. To see him bleed out as he watched how he spent his last seconds on this Earth.

His blood was boiling again. But he couldn't leave her alone to go look for revenge. She was hurting too much to leave her alone. He fell to the floor as he let the sadness consume him all over. The conversation with his mother alive on his mind. He started crying quietly in the middle of the compact tent, careful as to not wake Hinata.

"Mom…" He whispered while he scrunched his eyes and grabbed at his hair.

The longer the war went on, the troops' spirit deteriorated at a rapid rate. And the fact that they were gaining military objectives didn't help restore it.

Corpses were piling up on both sides.

Ebisu's death came on the third day of fighting, when Naruto's squad had left the river they conquered behind and they were fighting deep within Shibuya's forest, every time closer to the Village of Sound.

It was said that an earth user had managed to trap fifteen of Ebisu's men, him included, in a pool of mud. They were easy targets after that.

The Uzumaki had to exchange his blue leather collar with a red one provided by Inoichi himself.

As Platoon Leader his missions became more ambitious in territory control. That meant that he couldn't spread himself too thin in the 10 miles radius he was assigned to fight for control.

Now the difficult choices started to appear.

He sent Rokudan and Takanawa along with twenty others to cover their left flank. Now Hinata had finally gotten her wish to fight without another one's protection, and she did a terrific job again and again. Naruto stopped looking back at her position more and more, as he ventured ahead of his main squad to kill as many opponents and destroy any chakra canons the enemy still had with them. His presence usually meant the demoralization of the opponents that saw him coming. His blond hair was usually followed by a signal of retreat from Otogakure.

But wherever he wasn't able to be saw a greater rate of casualties for Konoha. And it was starting to weigh down on him.

Rokudan had died of blood loss after several detonations greeted them after his squad activated a hidden trap in the roots of the trees. Kasanawa managed to get away with her life, but her left arm had to be amputated and was now honorably discharged.

Takao followed Rokudan's path the next day, along with five others of Naruto's original squad. This time by an enemy squad that saw themselves cornered and activated their curse techniques in a last attempt to take the enemy with them.

And finally, what Hinata and Naruto dreaded the most finally happened.

The blond had been discussing strategy with Inoichi one night after being summoned to the main tent a few miles back into Konoha's formation.

One his way out he spotted TenTen. Her arm was heavily bandaged with what seemed like a recent wound. Once she spotted him, her eyes grew wide and she trotted up to him.

"What is it?" The Jinchuuriki asked, a tight knot forming itself in his stomach. He knew what it was about before she spoke. Someone had died. Someone close to them.

The words came out of her mouth, and his mind refused to believe it for a few seconds.

"Hinata is still with your team, right?" TenTen asked.

Naruto nodded absentmindedly. He felt his head grow hot with anger and fear.

"You need to tell her."

Those last words kept repeating themselves in his mind for the whole thirty minutes it took him to go back to his camp.

There was a moment where he thought it was better not to tell her up until the battle was over. But if they did that to him, he'd never forgive them for hiding it from him.

He walked slowly up to her. She had been stretching with some other team members and someone had said a joke. Even through this hell, she was holding herself better than him sometimes.

Her eyes traveled to his approaching form even before anyone else noticed he was coming. He knew his face was an open book. He felt himself walking stiffly. And there were a few tears coming out of his eyes. The woman immediately stood up and ran up to him, her eyes already afraid.

"Who?" She asked with trembling lips. Disobeying tears were already welling up in the corner of her eyes.

Naruto found his mouth dry. His difficulty to speak only served to agitate her even more.

"Shino." He said weakly.

He watched in slow motion how Hinata's whole body seemed to shut down. She screamed a painful "no" into the night, and her knees buckled under her. Naruto managed to hold her as she went down, and engulfed her in a desperate hug while she cried her lungs out for her fallen friend.

Naruto could just hold her as she shook uncontrollably. Her every sob ripped his heart into smaller pieces.

Shino was a jounin, and had one of Konoha's strongest techniques. If he could die, it meant any of his closest friends could too, at any given moment.

It was in this moment where the true horror of war dawned on Naruto.

And where he decided that he needed to do everything in his power to put an end to this nightmare.

Sasuke sat stone still as his generals kept bickering with each other for the steps to take next. He had stopped listening after the umpteenth update of discomforting news coming from more fronts than he would've liked.

What had started as a harmonic war council forty days before marching up against Konoha, had now become a tent full of stress and indecision. Sasuke had envisioned that what they lacked in numbers was compensated by massive crowd control equipment and long ranged attacks via several of the inventions Kabuto and his team cooked in their expensive labs.

But Konoha had an impressive portfolio of kekkei genkai that thwarted some of the most ambitious charges he placed in front of them. And they were well spread too, as one of his older generals mentioned.

The Hyuugas numerous members all but guaranteed that there could hardly be any surprise attack coming from miles away. And their kill rate was escalating so fast, some of the foot soldiers decided to scatter before having to fight with them once they were face to face.

Clan Aburame was concentrated on one site, but their progress was making a serious dent in his right flank. And he suspected that was just what the Hatake wanted. Juugo had managed to diminish the force of their attack, but only after Suigetsu's Company lent a hand.

Similarly, the Nara's decided to gather in one point rather than spreading around. They were practically blocking the main road to Konoha. Suigetsu had already launched several encounters but there wasn't a meter of ground without shadows among the trees and clouds that the Nara's didn't use to their advantage.

And then there was Naruto. He singlehandedly had been responsible of the loss of 35% of his chakra canons, and counting. Half of Oto's left-wing Company had been decimated after six consecutive days of taking the Uzumaki's violent advances.

They even managed to sneak up on Kabuto and slaughtered him with his whole crew.

"Our flanks are closing in. We should regroup some miles back before they close on us." Said Ako, a gruff middle age shinobi that had been in all the wars Oto had launched against their neighbor. He assimilated the diminished position of their eleventh Company in the West.

"We'll never recover the ground we left behind if we fled!" Suigetsu yelled over at his side of the table.

"If we keep fighting with our weakened position, they'll overrun us!" Retsu, Ako's second in command raised his voice as he agreed with his superior. "If we stay in place when Sunagakure's army arrives, they'll only need two days to finish half our army and they will no doubt head to our village next."

"We are not turning back." Sasuke said as he stood from his chair and walked over to the furthermost part of the map. "Ako's, Suigetsu's and Juugo's Companies will join mine to get through the Eastern flank in one ultimate push to get past their perimeter and head straight to Konoha at fast pace. Once we're through we'll get a day's start that'll be enough to breach the Village and hold it hostage."

Ako pursed his lips at every word of Sasuke's plan. "These are our strongest Companies. What of the others that stay keeping the rest of Konoha's forces at bay?"

The Uchicha's eyes were glued to the orange pilar that was among the much smaller pieces on the far left of the map.

"They'll retain both armies for as long as they can."

A somber silence fell on the General's tent.

There was a quiver on Retsu's voice as he said: "Our other men will have no cover for retreat."

"They fight for a bigger purpose, do they not?" Sasuke said menacingly, brandishing his red eyes. "Instruct them to unleash all of their curse marks without restraint. Konoha will fall in the next two days."

"But… without most of our forces how can we guarantee our Village's safety if things go sour?" Ako's face was pale as he ran Sasuke's plan through his mind. "We'd leave them unprotected!"

The Uchiha saw how others were assimilating the General's words.

"Our chances of getting the upper hand are diminishing as we speak. This is our only chance to take Konoha."

It was getting all too clear for the people in the tent, that Sasuke had zero regard for whatever happened with Oto if he could conquer Konoha. Ako felt a sharp shove on his ribs. His right hand, Retsu, was looking at him intently. They held a staring competition for a few seconds. Ako then sighed.

"There's another possibility." The tall man said nervously, fearing how his leader might react to the proposition.

The Uchiha raised his eyebrows in intrigue.

The General wet his lips. "There's a message coming directly from the enemy's east flank… Uzumaki Naruto himself has proposed a one-on-one fight with Sasuke-sama. To the death."

Ako held a crumpled note in his fingers as he spoke. He let the piece of paper pass through every member of the meeting. Sasuke's sharp eyes were looking pointedly at every member as they read it for themselves.

"In case of Otogakure's victory, they'll give us the land up until the Fire Capital, along with all the towns in between, and a lump sum payment to leave the remaining territory alone." One member read, eyebrows high on his forehead. "If Konoha triumphs, Otogakure is forced to pay reparations for 15 years. The Tameki River will continue to be Konoha's property. Further details will be discussed once the winner is revealed."

"15 years! That little shit-head has some nerve." One of the elders that composed Otogakure's special counsel exclaimed with rage.

'Some nerve indeed.' Agreed Retsu from his seat next to Ako. Ako hadn't disclosed it but the Uzumaki had given the paper to him personally and spared the lives of the fleeing Sound Company in exchange to deliver the message. 'But seeing that we are losing the war, paying money in exchange for our Village's survival doesn't seem so farfetched. Specially since the Uchiha wants our army to commit suicide for his ambition.'

Retsu knew that plenty of people were thinking along the same lines as him, given the solemn silence that had spread in the tent. 'And if we win…'

"It's foolish to think the Hokage and the Council will get behind Naruto's promises if he gets killed." Said Sasuke, not even deigning himself to read the proposal.

"That's true." Said Ako, rising from his chair. "But it does gives us a chance to regroup and propitiate a better attack formation when the Uzumaki is lying dead."

Sasuke's eyes fell on him but said nothing. He gave Ako leeway to keep speaking.

'Good.' He thought. "If we entertain this proposal, we can insist to make the fight in a position where we can maximize our canon's damage out of the Konoha army's sight. And take advantage of the chaos that we will create. We won't even need to worry about Suna's advance if we can break Konoha's formation."

"Hitsumatsu's Plains would be an ideal position for the final showdown. Once Sasuke-sama takes care of the Uzumaki, we can rain fire down from hidden positions on the top of the cliff, then we can make way from behind the mountain and breach their furthermost flank."

Murmurs of agreement started to be heard across the table. Sasuke was annoyed that Naruto's input had derailed the war Council away from his initial plan, but he did entertain the idea of not only killing the Uzumaki, but also repositioning his army so they had better chances to overrun Konoha.

"Ako's plan is sound, but the fact that the Uzumaki wrote us a letter doesn't mean Konoha will let it happen." Said the older councilman. "Konoha knows they have a better position. Why would they throw it all away for just one duel?"

Although Sasuke agreed with the old man's doubts, he knew Kakashi might as well go for it. "Because they don't want to lose more men. They're sentimental like that."

At the Uchiha's words, Retsu frowned. 'Unlike you who would have us die for you to get your Village but for us to lose our home.'

Sasuke had his mind made up. They could entertain this duel to give their war more momentum than it actually had. But it needed to happen soon. Suna was due to arrive to the battlefield in less than 3 days.

"Ako. Since you suggested the idea, you are in charge of making this duel happen. Once we have defined a location that benefits us, we'll start rearranging the troops to take Konoha by surprise."

The council meeting ended without anyone daring to voice the most obvious question in front of Sasuke.

"Even if they did go for the duel proposal, it's too risky to plan our next move without knowing the actual results of the fight."

Retsu was still shaken that his idea had taken them so far. But he could only think of one thing.

"Uzumaki is too strong. Nothing that we've sent his way has slowed him down. He's like a machine… What if he kills Sasuke? What will we do then?" His hesitant eyes traveled back to his superior's shaken ones.

"I am actually more preoccupied if Sasuke wins. Even if we take them by surprise, they have more men. And make no mistake Retsu, they will take precautions too in case of the Uzumaki's death. They are not stupid. I'm actually thinking…" His words faltered.

Retsu knew they were away from prying ears since they were back at their own camp, so he prodded his superior to finish his thoughts.

"I'm thinking that there's only one outcome to this war Sasuke has put us in." He confided gravely to the younger shinobi. "Otogakure is about to lose yet another war with Konoha. And I'm not the only one who thinks this way. I saw the look of the other General's and Captains in the tent. Sasuke's original plan did not sit well with any of them either."

Retsu nodded his head. Ever since day 3 of the war he had felt a deep despair holding his insides hostage. Every news was discouraging for their cause.

"Even in defeat, there's a chance that we can negotiate better terms for our surrender if the duel happens." Ako sounded more confident as he went on. "Can you imagine what Konoha would do to us if we keep fighting after the duel's outcome, whatever it is?"

"They'll wipe us out." Retsu whispered.

"And for good this time." Agreed the dark-haired man.

His general's sureness of their downfall made his hands sweat profusely. "What can we do?"

"First we need this duel to happen." Said Ako. "Then we need to negotiate the terms of surrender despite the outcome. If the terms are lenient enough, we can get the other General's on our side. Even if Sasuke wins, he can't keep going with only 20% of his army following his orders."

"But sir, that is treason." He had the good sense of talking in a low tone.

"No, lad. Sasuke betrayed us first when he was willing to sacrifice the majority our men, and our own Village, for his own ambition."

"Naruto… what on Earth made you skip the chain of command and do something so foolish?" The Hatake was giving the blond his back. A parchment half opened on top of his desk.

"Is it foolish to push for a quicker end for this senseless war?" The blond replied back, zero humor gracing his face or voice. It had all vanished since his mom's visit and the news of Aburame Shino's death at the hands of Suigetsu. "Here is a chance to nip it in the bud, and leave Otogakure with some shred of dignity so they stop attacking us every couple of years."

Kakashi turned to him, the moonlight made his hair cast a shadow up to Naruto's standing position. They both had bags under their eyes. And Naruto's gaze held a lonely desperation that made him look older.

"It's foolish to think they'll surrender peacefully even if you do defeat Sasuke." The Hatake said somberly. "They hate us. They'll keep fighting us until the end. This location right here is ideal for them to form a counterattack from a height where we will be unable to get to their canons in time."

Naruto ignored the part where his sensei insinuated he didn't have it in him to do what's necessary.

"They hate Sasuke more. I talked with them. They know they can't win, so they're grasping for the best outcome for their Village even after they lose." Naruto stepped forward, and placed both his palms on the table. "And if they do have the nerve to keep going even after I'm done with Sasuke, we'll finish them right then and there. But I don't think they will."

"What makes you so sure about that?" Kakashi had grown unaccustomed of Naruto's undeterred will when his mind was set on something.

"I convinced Shikamaru to accompany me to meet Otogakure's general to discuss the logistics." At this Naruto smiled. "They told us most of the generals had lost faith in Sasuke. They even gave us this letter." The chuunin produced a rolled-up parchment from one of his many pockets and placed it on Kakashi's hands. He kept talking as Kakashi read. "It's a statement signed by eight of the Generals. Where they will stand down after the duel regardless of who wins, and agree to sign an armistice to negotiate terms of surrender that don't include losing any more territory."

"Eight signatures…" Kakashi mused.

"Either way, we knew that it could be a trick. So Shikamaru asked Heiwa Ako to provide us with the full information of their formation plans previous to the fight. If he failed to deliver them 16 hours before the showdown, then the duel was to be cancelled. We can easily verify if their formation is true or not with the Byakuugan."

Naruto felt more confident as he spoke. He had practiced his arguments with Shikamaru.

"Kakashi, it's a sound plan. Even Shikamaru helped formulate it and agrees that is worth a try."

"…"

"And even if everything goes to shit. I can still have the chance to finish Sasuke once and for all." Naruto pressed. "And knowing him, he won't even consider the possibility of him losing. The war effort would die with him."

The Hatake closed his eyes and sighed deeply, before saying. "It is a good plan Naruto, I must admit. The prospect of finishing this war without more bloodshed than needed is something every shinobi in Konoha can appreciate. I will try and sell this to my Council."

"The choice is ultimately yours." The Uzumaki reminded him with a frown.

"I know." Conceded the Hokage. "But I want to test this idea from all angles."

The blond seemed satisfied enough.

"You and Shikamaru will have an answer in less than 5 hours." He started collecting the parchments from his desk. Naruto took it as his cue to leave.

"Whatever I decide, I have no doubt that you have it in you to finish this, Naruto." Said his sensei, with an air of pride in his words.

The blond pierced him with his gaze. "Then let me."

Instead of answering him, Kakashi called his secretary from his intercom to assemble an extraordinary war cabinet meeting.

- Paty